The present invention relates to an apparatus for manipulating heavy cylindrical storage containers, particularly where the containers may be either opened or closed by removal or replacement of a flanged lid and the containers are stored upright.
Cylindrical containers, such as barrels and drums, are routinely stored in an upright position, resting on one of their flattened ends. To save floor space, the containers are pressed close together. Workers frequently need to read labeling applied to the containers' exterior walls to find a particular container, or to move the containers for use or for transport. The close proximity of the containers to one another, including the chance that they have become wedged together, combined with weights frequently approaching 350 kg., complicate the performance of the workers' duties. Workers frequently have difficulty separating and turning the containers.
The art has long recognized that giving a worker a lever to handle, move, lift and turn various drums, barrels and other cylindrical containers is an effective approach to the basic problems involved with moving and positioning such vessels. The problem posed typically involves how and where to attach the lever to the container. In attaching the lever, consideration must be given to the direction of extension of the lever relative to the container.
Several patents illustrate attachment of a manipulating lever to an end rim of a container. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 417,578 to McNeill, et al., illustrates attachment of lever to a barrel rim for handling barrels that are stored on their sides. McNeill provides a lever for lifting the barrel by its end and for controlling rolling of the barrel for positioning. A secure attachment of the lever to the barrel was achieved by providing two impinging points of contact between a claw attached to one end of the lever and both the interior and exterior surfaces of the rim or "chine" of the barrel. The claw and its hooks are oriented to position the lever so that it extends from the body of the barrel in a direction substantially aligned with the barrel's direction of elongation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,924 to Furnes teaches a lever having a "gripping organ" or claw for grasping the rim of a cylindrical container to allow use of the lever to move and to lift individual containers when stored in an upright position. The claw is attached to an end of the lever in a way to position the lever perpendicular to the major axis of the container. In use, the claw impinges both the interior and exterior major surfaces of a barrel flange. Furnes emphasizes shaping the working elements of the claw to fit closely to the surfaces that the elements will face in use. This approach should work well where the worker can expect to encounter rims of a single, standard dimension.
In some environments a worker cannot count on drums being of a standard size. Even where the drums are of a standard size, the flange on which a claw or gripping cradle is to be used may be the rim of a flanged lid or the lip of an opened drum itself. The rim and the lip will usually not have the same dimensions. A tool should allow for different circumferences of drums, or for rims of different thicknesses.